This week from DC Comics, Bruce Wayne decides to face the music and turn himself into the police, for strategic reasons of course. In Detective Comics 1040, Bruce knows he needs to get the heat off of him so he can operate more freely, but to do so, he needs to turn himself in to the authorities. While this may have strategic value, you would think he would know to pick a better day to do it. He decides to turn himself in on a Friday, which means he will sit in a cell for the entire weekend. I am not sure what such an extended stay achieved, but when you have a friend like Oracle, you know the paperwork will be good to go Monday morning. Only, during his stay, a little jailbird sings his secrets to the world.

Holding someone like Bruce Wayne in a common holding cell for an entire weekend seems problematic. You would think it would stir up some problems, but I never thought it would turn out as it did. I bet Bruce left Monday morning going “thank god for alcohol”. Bruce made one little mistake years ago, and it felt like his whole world was about to come crashing down around him. To have a drunk say ‘hey, you’re Bruce Wayne’ is one thing. To have him say ‘hey, you’re the Batman’ is quite another. As I read this I felt like ‘oh crap, how’s Bruce gonna get out of this one’. Thankfully for Bruce, as the boos wear off, so, too, do the memories of that night. Bruce dodged a real bullet there.

Jailbird Sings – The Birdman Strikes Back

Let’s face it. Penguin is a total joke. No one takes him seriously anymore. The ultimate snub came when the Batgirls (Cassie and Steph) abandoned a bust on Penguin’s activities for bigger criminals. Talk about the ultimate snub. Cobblepot felt disgraced and now fights to re-establish his name and reputation. It helps to have a man like Mr. Worth on your side too.

He may be down, but Cobblepot is not stupid. He knows Batman needs to be taken out before Wayne can be touched. Penguin assembled one hell of an army by the looks of it, but he knows he needs more, so when in doubt, make it up! In the comic universe that means genetically enhance someone. I do not recognize the man strapped to the table, but it sounds like Cobblepot calls him The Jury, and it looks like his purpose will be to give Batman a major problem next issue. As I mentioned in my other reviews I really like how DC now uses both old characters (heroes and villains) and mixes in new characters post-Future State. It makes Gotham feel more fresh and dangerous. Huntress plays a major role for the first time in a while while we also get Ghostmaker. Oswald returns, but at the same time, we meet new villains like Vile and Punchline.

Jailbird Sings – First Predator, Now Alien?!

I made the comment in my review of Detective Comics 1039, that Vile looked like he sprung from a Predator movie with the way his mouth opened up. Now in Detective Comics 1040, we watch something truly horrible unfold, and it comes straight out of the movie Alien! In the process, it takes out one of the most tragic characters in the Gotham rogues gallery – Kurt Langstrom, The Manbat.

Kurt meant well in life, but his obsessive nature got the better of him. In the process of trying to cure hearing loss, he made himself into the creature known as Manbat. DC even gave him his own self-titled, comic miniseries recently. Now in the second story of Detective Comics 1040, Kurt Langstrom meets his final end. I missed the ending of that series, but I believe these events spring from that.

I giant fear demon erupts from Kurt’s Manbat body just like in Alien. Manbat manages to control his fear and reel the demon back inside him, but at the cost of his own life. To make it even more tragic, No one can know what happened or the demon will use that fear to return. This is actually a rather sad and tragic ending for this character. It really fits his persona.

So what did you guys think of Detective Comics 1040? Will The Jury be a real threat for Batman? Head on over to DC Fanatics on Facebook and tell us what you thought.